Meet the Administrative Staff

John has over 30 years’ experience in product development, marketing, operations, and supply chain across the high tech, heavy equipment, and aerospace industries.

Related volunteer activity includes volunteer roles from horse handler to facility maintenance. He served as Committee Chairperson for both the Facility and Technology committees and was on the Board of Directors for two years (2009-2011) where he helped develop key business processes such as capacity planning. John also served as the President of the Hutto Middle School PTA for two years (2004-2006).

John graduated from the Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace Engineering. He attended advance leadership training programs at G.E., Case Corporation, and Dell.

John is passionate about motor sports and enjoys participating in performance driving events. He is a licensed time trial competitor with the National Auto Sports Association and is a high performance driving instructor.

Patty D’Andrea graduated from University of Maryland in 1985 with an Animal Science Degree. Her husband John has supported her addiction and love of horses for over 30 years. Patty, John, and their two kids moved to Georgetown, Texas in 2000. It was here that Patty was able to put her love of kids and horses together and become educated in working with kids and adults with physical, cognitive, and emotional challenges. In 2004 Patty became a PATH Intl registered instructor, and in 2008 passed the grueling two-day PATH Intl test to become an Advanced Instructor. In early 2011 that Patty decided to take her vision and start a therapeutic riding center in east Austin that would focus on the healing powers of the horse-human bond. A board was developed and Healing with Horses ranch was founded.

Patty is also on the PATH Intl Equine Welfare Committee, is an approved mentor for PATH Intl Instructor Candidates, and is an Apprentice PATH Intl Evaluator for potential instructors. Patty is also a Special Olympics Equestrian Coach and Healing with Horses Ranch is a delegation within Special Olympics. She was also the chairman for four years of Rodeo Austin’s Gold Stirrup Horse Show, a horse show for riders with special needs.

Libby HallettPATH Intl. CTRI Instructor​ / Equine and Conditioning Team Manager​​As an animal-lover from the very start, Libby discovered her passion for horses at a young age. She began taking riding lessons as a seven-year-old and acquire her first “job” at the age of nine, saddling and feeding the school horses for $10/week. A couple of decades later, Libby is still saddling and feeding the school horses and doing so much more!

Healing With Horses Ranch appeared in Libby’s life at a point when she was new to Austin, horseless and in need of an equine outlet. Volunteering at the ranch was the perfect opportunity to get her horse fix and after some time, she began to work towards her PATH International Instructor certification, which she completed in the spring of 2017. Over the years, Libby has shown hunter/jumpers, eventers and reiners and has experience riding and training horses for a wide variety of disciplines. She is excited to be able to apply this experience in the realm of therapeutic horsemanship and is thrilled to be continuing her own education as an equestrian along the way.(Photo: AJ Abelman Photography)

​Cameron began volunteering at the ranch in February 2016 and was instantly addicted and found herself volunteering whenever she could. Cameron is from Waco, TX and at the age of 8 she became obsessed with horses, eventually getting two and she had them for 10 years. She attended Texas Tech University and graduated with a BA in Psychology in 2015. She decided to continue school and received her MA in Family and Child Studies (with a focus in Program Administration and Evaluation) at Texas State University in 2017. It was during her second semester when she was looking for a place where she could volunteer that she discovered Healing with Horses Ranch. She knew she needed horses back in her life and didn’t realize it would end up changing her career path.​In fall 2016 Cameron was a program management intern at the ranch to fulfill her grad school requirement and that’s when she knew she wanted to pursue becoming a therapeutic riding instructor. She completed her instructor training, was certified in the fall of 2017, and officially became a full time instructor soon after. She is our student liaison and helps Patty with program development and grants.

Crystal mentored with Patty, became our first staff PATH Intl Instructor after Patty, and we are excited she is back with us after a short break. Crystal has a wealth of horse knowledge and has an amazing way with our clients who absolutely love her.

Crystal and her family are true animal lovers. They have numerous animals including horses, dogs, cats, lizards, snakes, birds, cows, chickens.... oh my!

Healing with Horses Ranch was one of Alexa's first stops after she moved to Austin, TX in early 2016. A teacher at heart and a horse-lover through and through, Alexa earned her instructor certification in the fall of 2017 to combine her two passions. She teaches at the Ranch on nights and weekends, outside of her tech PR and Marketing career. She's also a renowned fence-builder and is fearsome with any power tool.

Alexa calls many places home, having been born in Canada, raised in Charleston, and educated in Scotland. Wherever she is, you'll rarely find her without dirt under her nails and she'll always tell you that home is where the horse is.​

When moving from Virginia to Austin, Jo found Healing with Horses Ranch as the perfect place to volunteer to get some much needed horse time. Jo grew up near a barn taking lessons (or most commonly skipping them to ride cross-country) and competing in Show Jumping with her fantastic, one-eyed horse, Bart.

Jo graduated from the College of William and Mary with a BS in Chemistry and Biology, and journeyed to Austin to continue studying Biochemistry in graduate school (but will happily discuss any scientific concept with glee). ​Jo started volunteering at Healing with Horses Ranch in 2016 and quickly fell in love with the people and horses. After realizing that she was starting to teach during the lessons she volunteered in, Jo decided to pursue becoming a therapeutic riding instructor. Jo was certified in 2018 and teaches part-time on weeknights and weekends.

Veronica “Roni” LooneyPATH Intl. CTRI Instructor​Roni is a lifelong horsewoman, native to central Texas. In addition to riding personal and project horses, Roni became involved in the therapeutic horsemanship industry at the early age of 16 as a volunteer and horse trainer. She is currently schooling Training Level dressage with her beloved Holsteiner mare, Ulissa.

Roni was awarded her Masters of Science in Speech Language Pathology from Gallaudet University in 2016 and holds her CCCs from the American Speech Language and Hearing Association. She is fluent in American Sign Language and enjoys providing services in ASL. Lessons with Roni include an emphasis on communication (between humans and animals alike) and harmony in the saddle no matter the level of her riders.

Gina BulterPATH Intl. CTRI Instructor​Gina was born and raised in Tulsa, OK where she started riding in the Hunter/Jumper discipline when she was 11 years old. As a shy child, Gina found that horses drew her out of her shell and developed her confidence, helping her face fear and risk with bravery. In college, Gina studied studio art, with much of her work focusing on horses and her early experiences with them. She first volunteered with HHR in early 2018 as a way to keep horses in her life and was immediately struck by the healthy atmosphere of the barn where she felt constantly appreciated. Horse therapy called to her not just because of the emphasis on the horse/rider relationship, but most of all because of the opportunity to love and value those who might otherwise be overlooked. She began pursuing becoming an instructor in the summer of 2019, finishing her CTRI in January of 2020. She has loved horses since she was little and takes great satisfaction in being “that horse girl” who turned her childhood obsession into a way of life.

​Hadley Hill has joined our team. She is a licensed mental health professional and leads our Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) activities . Some of the goals of this program are learning empathy and the care for others, communication between the family, patience, team work and learning the importance of consistency.

Hadley is also a an active volunteer, assisting in lessons and is on our feed and conditioning teams.

Samantha is an animal lover, nature enthusiast, and counseling intern who found her way to the Ranch in November 2017 when seeking LPC internship opportunities that would be the best fit for her passions and talents. She began at the ranch volunteering, and when all exams were completed and a supervisor secured was thrilled to join the team as a LPC-I!

Samantha is a Texas native and holds a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Biology from University of Texas at Austin., along with a M.A. in Counseling Psychology from St. Edwards University. In addition, she is currently enrolled at Lotus Energy Institute, where she continues to learn about energy, healing, and consciousness. Samantha is passionate about helping others in their healing journeys, gently assisting in releasing that which no longer serves them and encouraging them as they grow towards health, wholeness, and empowerment. She believes deeply in the power of connection, nature, and energetic awareness to heal, and she feels honored to facilitate EFP sessions that offer the opportunity through relationship with the horses for clients to come back to their hearts and bodies in a more present, grounded, and balanced way.

Samantha's love for horses began in childhood, spending time with them at a friend's ranch and taking riding lessons when she turned 8. Some of her fondest memories are horseback riding on the beach, and along nature trails in the Texas hill country. In her off time, Samantha can often be found hiking, swimming, or camping with her partner, Kieron, and their beloved dog, Kip.

Sarah Beth has loved horses since she was first learning what animals were. It took much convincing to persuade her father that it was more than every little girls dream for her. Finally, her daddy gave in and bought her two mustangs. Which, in hindsight probably wasn’t the best idea for a young girl who knew nothing about horses except a yearning to be near them. She survived to college age, when she left her home in Arkansas and went to a small work college in Kentucky, Berea College, with her mind set on becoming a veterinarian. The goal was to help both horses and people. Little did she know she would come across PATH Intl. and learn about many more ways to accomplish that dream. Much to her relief the major switched from Biology, pre-vet to Agriculture and Natural resources with a focus on animal management. Sarah Beth proudly married an Army officer and they began their new adventure which led them both to Texas. As soon as she arrived in September of 2017 she searched for a PATH Int. center to get involved in. That search led to Healing with Horses Ranch where she instantly felt welcome and was soon four hooves deep. She decided that EFP is where her heart was and pursued the Equine Specialist certification. She completed her certification in August of 2017 and is thoroughly enjoying her new role at Healing with Horses Ranch, where she gets to live her dream happily covered in dirt.

Davina Merkel is proud to say that her father spent 30 years in the Air Force. Though she spent her child moving around and meeting amazing people, every where they moved she worked her way to some place with horses. When her family retired in San Antonio, she was able to spend all of her spare time at Fort Sam Houston where she led trail rides and loved everybody else's horses. Once she was in high school she was she was able to make her dream a reality when leased her first horse, "Bucky".

In 1992, Davina moved to Austin with her daughter, Crystal, married Keith, the best darn Bar-B-Que cook that you have ever met, and had her son, Jesse. She now has 2 horses on their ranch where they also raise Wagyu cattle.

Davina recently retired from International Biomedical and volunteers with the Travis County Sheriff's Alumni. After donating their horse Dude to Healing with Horses Ranch and wanting to stay connected to him, she decided to volunteer and quickly realized this was a place to call their "second home"

Seeing how much Patty was doing, and being the consummate caregiver, Davina agreed to help at the ranch which ultimately lead to her being our finance manager.

Lauren HigginsVolunteer Coordinator​Lauren is a native Californian but has relocated, not only along the coast but throughout Asia, having lived in Thailand and China for a consecutive 5 years of her adolescence. She graduated in Spring 2015 with my BFA from Biola University, and again, soon relocated to Austin.

The ranch fulfilled Lauren's lifelong desire to work with horses and she went through volunteer training shortly after moving to Texas, April 2016. She immediately starting volunteering whenever and however she could; "I took more and more steps to become involved with HHR, specifically my time spent student instructing, I ultimately pursued the role of volunteer coordinator, and I'm thrilled to devote my time and energy here."

Arianna joined the ranch in August 2017 as a volunteer. The ranch quickly became a place of comfort and community, prompting her to pursue a position on the board.

After serving on the Board of Directors as the Fundraising committee chair, Arianna passion for the Ranch lead her to become the Development Director.

Caring for and riding horse has been not only been a lifelong passion but one she shares with her mother. “My mom taught me love and empathy through our connection with horses.”​Arianna holds a B.A. in Organizational Communications from St. Edwards and previously worked in social services providing behavior health education and case management to youth in the Greater Austin Area. She is passionate about building resiliency in youth and adults through positive supports and education. With years of experience in nonprofit and a deep passion for equine assisted activities and therapies, Arianna is a great asset to Healing with Horses Ranch.

Lauren ReynoldsOffice Manager ​Lauren first got involved with HH Ranch as a horse handler volunteer in 2012. She received her Bachelors in Animal Science from Texas A&M University and then went back to complete a Masters in Natural Resource Development. Whoop! Lauren fostered her love of animals at an early age, working for her dad who is a small animal vet in her hometown of Kerrville, Texas.

Lauren first got involved with horses at the age of 6 and has been riding ever since. She grew up competing in Hunter/Jumper and now mostly rides for pleasure on her horse, Penny. (Adopted from the Texas A&M Horse Center).

If not spending time with her animals, she can most likely be found listening to live music downtown, hiking a greenbelt, or catching a flick at Alamo Drafthouse.